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NORWALK — Officials have identified a Long Beach man found fatally stabbed in Norwalk last week and announced the arrest of a suspect.
Darin Sivley, 53, died at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood about 3:45 p.m., just over an hour after the stabbing took place in the area of Stubebaker Road and Ferina Street, Los Angeles County sheriff’s and coroner’s officials said.
Detectives Wednesday announced a suspect — 38-year-old William Johnson — has been arrested in connection with the slaying, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said in a written statement. His city of residence was not clear.
Sivley was believed to have been stabbed at a home before riding from the scene on a bicycle and collapsing nearby, authorities said.
“During the investigation, homicide detectives interviewed (Johnson),” according to the sheriff’s department statement. “Suspect Johnson was arrested on the evening of March 6, 2014, booked for murder at Norwalk Station and is being held in lieu of $1,030,000 bail.”
According to county booking records, Johnson was scheduled to appear Monday in Norwalk Superior Court.
An autopsy carried out Wednesday determined Sivley died from stab wounds to his arm, and the death was ruled a homicide.
Further details regarding the alleged slaying, including a motive, were not released.

A man carjacked two drivers and attacked one of them with a bottle before being arrested late Friday, authorities said.
Markkis Porsche Sonier, 24, of Long Beach was booked on suspicion of carjacking and assault with a deadly weapon following his arrest, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials and county booking records.
The series of crimes began about 8:50 p.m. in the parking lot of Denny’s restaurant, on 7th Avenue near the 60 Freeway, Sgt. Michael Mileski said.
“The suspect told the victim he had a gun and demanded his vehicle,” Mileski said. The victim complied, and the carjacker sped off in the man’s Dodge Neon.
Minutes later, Sonier abandoned the Dodge nearby at Turnbull Canyon Road and Gale Avenue in Industry, Mileski said. He then turned it attention to a woman with a Lexus sedan in a parking lot.
“He assaulted her with a bottle,” Mileski said.
The woman was struck in the head, Sgt. Greg Taylor said in an written statement. She was treated by paramedics for minor injuries.
The suspect then fled in the woman’s car, which was spotted by deputies just around the corner, officials said.
“As Industry station deputies were responding to area of the first carjacking, the suspect nearly collided into a patrol car,” Taylor said. “Realizing that the vehicle that nearly collided into them could possibly be related to the carjacking which had just happened, deputies conducted a traffic stop and detained the driver without incident.”
Sonier was already on probation for assault, Taylor added.
According to booking records, Sonier was being held in lieu of $185,000 bail pending his initial appearance Tuesday in West Covina Superior Court.

Police arrested a Pomona man early Saturday after he allegedly tried to steal a shopping cart full of ammunition in Covina, vandalized a bank in Pasadena with anarchist symbols and was captured trying to vandalize a sign in front of the Veterans Affairs hospital in Long Beach, authorities said.
Matthew Ryan Willert, 29, was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail Saturday at the Long Beach Police Department’s jail pending his initial court appearance, according to Los Angeles County booking records. The motive in his alleged bizarre crime spree was unclear.
Willert, or at least his license plate number, first came to the attention of law enforcement about 11:30 p.m. Thursday after he tried to steal bullets from the Covina Walmart, 1275 N. Azusa Avenue, Covina police Sgt. Tom Tardif said.
“He went to the gun display. He had a (baseball) bat in his hand,” Tardif said. It was not clear if he brought the bat with him or picked it up inside the store.
“He loaded up a shopping cart full ammunition,” Tardif said. He also placed several utility knives and other tools into the cart.
But Willert was confronted by a store security guard and fled the store, leaving the shopping cart containing a “large quantity” of bullets and blades behind, Tardif said.
The number and caliber of bullets Willert tried to steal was not available, but the total value of the items in the cart was estimated at $2,500, police said.
Authorities again encountered the suspect’s alleged handiwork about 11 p.m. at OneWest Bank, 888 E. Walnut Street, Pasadena police Lt. Jason Clawson said.
“A suspect drove up to the business in a truck, jumped out of his truck, and spray-painted graffiti along the glass windows,” Clawson said. The graffiti was largely comprised of anarchy symbols.
“He then retrieved a brick and threw it through the front window,” Clawson said. “The suspect fled the scene, but a witness saw the license plate.”
As officers continued investigating early Saturday, Clawson said, they learned a man driving the same truck had been arrested by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs police in Long Beach as he was attempting a similar vandalism outside the VA Long Beach Healthcare System hospital. Spraypaint and more bricks were recovered from Willert’s car at the time of his arrest in Long Beach.
Willert was arrested about 12:30 a.m. Saturday as he was attempting to vandalize a sign in front of the hospital, according to VA police and Los Angeles County booking records. He did not manage to significantly damage the sign before his arrest.

Deputies uprooted 217 pot plants in Temple City, recovered two assault weapons and a handgun in Covina and arrested seven people with suspected ties to Asian organized crime Tuesday and Wednesday at the culmination of a month-long investigation, officials said.
Detectives, who had been watching the group of suspects from afar, made their move Tuesday afternoon, raiding an indoor marijuana grow inside a home in the 4800 block of Glickman Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s gang investigator Sgt. Steve Kim said.
Deputies found 217 pot plants being grown inside the home, he said. Ting Mo, 22, who told investigators she lived at the home, was arrested on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana, along with Guan Mei, 29, of Los Angeles, who was detained as he was driving away from the home.
Earlier in the afternoon, deputies arrested two other men linked to the grow house after tracking them down in the area of 28th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, Kim said. Zhen Huang, 29, of Rowland Heights and Man Chon, 31, of Valinda were booked on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana.
Deputies then headed to a home in the 100 block of West Arbor way that had also been linked to the pot grow, Kim said. Deputies recovered an AK-47-style rifle, an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun, however the suspect was not home. Deputies continued seeking him on suspcicion of cultivating marijuana and weapons violations.
As part of the investigation Tuesday, deputies also searched another home in the 4800 block of Glickman Avenue, as well as one in the 16900 block of Pocono Street in Valinda, Kim said. Nothing of significance was discovered at either home.
Finally, deputies arrested three men Wednesday afternoon when they arrived at the the grow house that had been raided the previous day, Kim said. Rueng Chen, 28, of Duarte, Haiqian Zhang, 24, of Los Angeles and Lesheng Zou, 20, of Los Angeles were also booked on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana.
The suspects were believed to have ties to the Chinese gang known as Red Door, Kim added.
All seven suspects were booked with bail amounts of $50,000, sheriff’s officials said.
All of the suspects are Chinese nationals, with the exception of Huang, who sheriff’s officials described as a naturalized American citizen.

LONG BEACH — A 25-year-old Baldwin Park man was listed in extremely critical condition Thursday after he allegedly lost control of his car and was broadsided by another vehicle in East Long Beach.

Long Beach Police Department and Fire Department units were called to the area of Stearns Street, just east of McNab Avenue, at about 7:25 a.m. when the crash was reported, said Nancy Pratt, an LBPD spokeswoman.

The initial investigation found the 25-year-old was driving a white 1985 Mazda GSL west on Stearns and was traveling too fast for the rainy conditions when he lost control of the car and entered on-coming traffic lanes and spun out, Pratt said.

“The vehicle was then broadsided by a 2009 grey Nissan Rogue being driven by a 39-year-old woman from Long Beach,” Pratt said.

Although the driver of the Mazda was wearing his seatbelt, the force of the impact was so great he was thrown out of the hatchback window of his car, she said.

Witnesses at the scene said one of the cars also briefly caught fire.

The 25-year-old man was rushed to a local hospital, where he was in extremely critical condition Thursday afternoon, Pratt said.

Long Beach Fire Department paramedics also transported the 39-year-old woman to a local hospital, though her injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, said Fire Capt. Jim Arvizu.

Accident Investigations detectives were called to the scene, and shut down a large portion of the street to traffic for several hours Thursday morning.

Anyone with information about the crash is urged to call the Accident Investigations Detail, 562-570-7355. Anonymous tips may be submitted by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), texting TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637) or visitingwww.lacrimestoppers.org.

Long Beach and a police officers group ask justices to overturn a Superior Court ruling that the city must provide the names of officers involved in shootings.

NORWALK — Jury selection began Tuesday for two El Monte men charged with slashing the throat of a 20-year-old Bellflower woman and leaving her for dead in a rugged canyon.Vincent Mendoza, 23, and Edward Meraz, 26, are each charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon for the 2009 attack on Christina Ivonne Martinez, who was then 20 years old.Prosecutors also allege the men personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim and Mendoza used a knife to commit the crimes.The charges stem from the Aug. 4, 2009, kidnapping of Martinez.Martinez told police she was going to the beach with the men, who were her friends, when she got into their car.Instead, she was tied up, beaten and then driven to Whittier where she was unbound and forced out of the car. One of the men then allegedly slashed her throat before pushing her down the rocky canyon.Despite her injuries, Martinez was able to climb the steep grade. She then made her way to the back door of a house in the 6000 block of Altmark Avenue in Whittier where she was helped by a resident.A Whittier Police Department officer later stopped a Mitsubishi and found the two defendants, along with a third suspect, a shovel and a rope, police said.The third suspect, Jose Ayala, pleaded no contest on March 17 to a single count of attempted murder and was sentenced to 39 years to life in prison.There was no word Tuesday if he would testify against his former co-defendants.If Meraz and Mendoza are convicted on all counts, they face face a life prison term as well.A jury was chosen Tuesday for Mendoza. A separate jury will be selected Wednesday for Meraz, according to court staff.The two men will be tried simultaneously, with the two juries seated in the same courtroom to save time and expenses.Opening statements are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Dept. D of the Norwalk Superior Court.

NORWALK — Police have linked a body found in a shallow grave in Norwalk over the weekend and another found buried in long Beach Wednesday to the investigation into a missing Compton couple, authorities said.A teenage boy and girl were arrested on suspicion of murder in the case, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said in a written statement.Sheriff’s and coroner’s investigators unearthed the body of a woman in Norwalk about 10 a.m. Saturday, officials said. It was buried just below the ground in the side yard of an abandoned property in the 11800 block of Norwalk Boulevard.The woman remained listed Thursday as a Jane Doe at the coroner’s office pending positive identification, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said.Concerned family members contacted sheriff’s officials Tuesday to report a couple had gone missing under “suspicious circumstances,” according to the sheriff’s statement.The following day, using information given to them by the family of the missing couple, investigators found a second body buried in a shallow grave in a vacant lot at Atlantic Avenue and Rates Boulevard, officials said. The second body also had not been identified Thursday.The causes of deaths for both people remained under investigation.A 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl have been booked on suspicion of murder in connection with the killings and were being held without bail at a juvenile detention facility, authorities said. Their cities of residency were not available.“The female juvenile is related to the missing couple, but their exact relationship has not been disclosed,” according to the sheriff’s statement.Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.

LONG BEACH — A 16-year-old girl died and two men were wounded after being shot following a football game at a Long Beach high school.Long Beach police Sgt. Dina Zapalski says it’s unclear what led to Friday night’s shooting at Wilson High School. Police are searching for a gunman.The girl died at a hospital.An 18-year-old man and a 20-year-old man sustained non-life-threatening injuries.City Councilman Gary DeLong described the girl as “an innocent bystander who was notinvolved” in the altercation.It’s unclear if any of the victims were students at the school.

LONG BEACH — A tanker truck hauling 8,000 gallons of ethanol crashed on a highway, exploding into an inferno that sent a river of flame into storm drains, officials said. The driver was killed.The truck crashed around 6 p.m. Saturday when it hit the side rail of eastbound State Route 91 at the transition to Interstate 710, the Long Beach Fire Department said in a statement.The driver’s name was not immediately released.Witnesses said the heat was so intense it melted guardrails and all that remained of the truck were its axles and small portions of the cab.A stream of fire flowed from the tanker into a storm drain, causing plumes of flame to spew 20 feet in the air from other storm drains.The large quantity of ethanol in the truck fueled a huge fireball that enveloped the overpasses, Long Beach Fire Department Capt. Jackawa Jackson said. Firefighters snuffed the flames with foam, he said.Officials worried the fire may have weakened the elevated stretch of road, the fire department said.The cause of the crash was under investigation and the roadway remained closed while inspectors examined it.

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